It’s Time to Check Your Progress – Self Evaluations

The mid-year point can be a great time to give yourself a review on your job performance. Most companies typically hold performance reviews or annual reviews at the end of the calendar year, but at that point there isn’t much you can do to improve your scorecard for the year. Here are the key elements in conducting a self-review.

1. Review the progress you’ve made on your goals.
   Remember the goals you set for yourself at the beginning the year? When is the last time you reviewed those? Now is the perfect time to review them and see where you are at meeting them. If you are struggling with a goal, take some time to consider what the obstacles are and how you can work around them. In areas where you’ve succeeded, it’s a great motivator to see how your performance is paying off. Often, we are so busy getting our work done we don’t take the time to look up and see how far we’ve come. This evaluation may just be the motivation and encouragement you need to keep pressing on.
2. Review any new skills you’ve learned or skills you’ve advanced.
   Have you been to any training events this year? Have you taken any online classes or webinars, or read any development publications? Even though everything you learn might not create a new or advanced skill, it’s good to review what you’ve been doing to stay fresh and keep your skills sharp. Now may be a good time to create or update your list of job specific abilities and soft skills, and you may even want to score yourself on them. If you have a résumé, it may be a good time to update it or add any new skills to your LinkedIn page. Keeping those things up to date regularly prevents you from having to do major overhauls every few years.
3. Create a timeline for improvement.
   Everyone has room for improvement, and even if you’ve met your goals, now is a great time to start thinking of ways to advance or add milestones you’d like to achieve. This timeline will remind and motivate you to pursue your development goals and will demonstrate your commitment to improvement to your manager. It would be great to share this with your manager, especially if you’re going to need additional resources to achieve your goals. Even if you don’t share it with your manager now, it will be a wonderful asset to discuss in your annual review.

How do you measure your performance and development? Share your tips in the comments section below.